West Ham United will be named as preferred candidate to move into the Olympic Stadium but their owners will be asked to agree to share profits from any future sale of the English Premier League soccer club, the BBC reported.

London mayor Boris Johnson believes the award of a 99-year lease to move to the stadium would make the club much more valuable and is seeking a commitment from owners David Gold and David Sullivan that they would split profits if they sold up.

English champions Manchester City play in the stadium built for the 2002 Commonwealth Games and have prospered after being bought by Abu Dhabi's Sheikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

West Ham have been regarded as the most likely candidate among four bidders to become anchor tenants of the stadium, the centrepiece of the Olympic Park in east London where the Games were held in July and August.

However, wrangling over the costs of converting the stadium into one also capable of staging soccer had delayed the process.

The London Legacy Development Corporation, chaired by mayor Johnson, was meeting on Wednesday to discuss the stadium issue.